Electric control



- July 28, 1925. 1,547,259

T. E.. NIBLOCK ET AL ELECTRIC CONTROL I Filed 1 20, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet1 r I? j In? A lflllH ll gfim IIHI El July 28, 1925. 1,547,259

1". E. NIBLOCK ET AL ELECTRIC cpmnon Filed Aug. 20, 1924 2 Sheetq-Sheet2 INVENTOR 11L. M21

7 ATTORNEYS Patented July 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,547,259 PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS EUGENE NIBLOCK AND GUY OSCAR MILLER, OF GREAT FALLS, MONTANA.

ELECTRIC CONTROL.

Application filed August 20, 1924. Serial No. 733,242.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS EUGENE NIBLooK and GUY Os AR MILLER,citizens of the United States, and residents of Great Falls, in thecounty of Cascade and State of Montana, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Electric Controls, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an electrical switch and more particularly to'a device especially adapted for controlling the op.- eration of anEdison type of phonograph when driven by an electric motor.

An object of the invention is the provision of a switch adapted to beautomatically operated through the oscillation of the horn and tone armfor causing in proper sequence the starting and stopping of themechanism of the phonograph without requiring the attention of theoperator other than that of placing the stylus upon the face of therecord Another object of the invention is the provision of a simple,inexpensive and reliable device adapted to be automatically operated bythe disposition of the tone arm at certain points along the recordwhereby the motor for rotating the record will be automatically startedor stopped.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, in view of the acoom panying drawingforming a part of the specification; nevertheless it is to be understoodthat the invention is not confined to the disclosure, being susceptibleof such changes and modifications which shall define no materialdeparture from the salient features of the invention as expressed in theappended claims. 1

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of an Edison disc phonograph showing ourinvention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a side view of the tone arm and stylus holder and connectionbetween the tone arm and stylus holder constructed according to theprinciples of our invention.

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the plunger adapted to beautomatically operated for controlling a switch.

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the switch for controlling themotor.

Figure 5 is a side view of the same.

ure 6 is a fr m nta y n d. v ew with parts broken away showing theconstruction of the magnet.

Figure 7 diagrammatically shows the electric wiring for the switchcontrol of the motor and generator. Referring more particularly tothedrawlngs, designates a section of the cabinet for housing the motorand operating mecha nism for a turntable 2 adapted to carry a record 3.A vertical shaft 4: which passes through the top 5 of the cabinet isrigidly connected with the turntable 2 and projects upwardly through acentral perforation in the record 3. Shaft 4 is driven by a worm 6engaging a worm gear on the shaft (not shown). The worm 6 is on a shaft7 driven by an electric motor 8.

A rock shaft 9 is mounted in a bearing 10 on the floor 11 of the chamber1 of the cabinet and has itsupper end in a bearing in the top 5 of thecabinet. The shaft is vertically moved through a cam member 12 pivotedat'13 to the shaft 9 and has an oscillating operating handle 14 whichwhen moved in the direction indicated by the arrow is adapted to elevatethe rock shaft 9 while the vertical position of the handle 14, as shownin Figure 1, maintains the shaft in its normal position. z

A horn 15 is connectedby a strap 16 to the rock shaft 9 and is adaptedto be oscillated through the rocking of said shaft.

A worm 17 on the shaft is adapted to be engaged by an arcuately shapedrack 18 rigidly connected with the shaft 9 through a collar 19. v

The upper reduced end of the horn 15 passes through an opening in thetop 5 of the cabinet and is extended upwardly in goose-neck fashion andisconnected with a tone arm 20 Th tone arm is enlarged, as shown at 21,to provide a sound box and a diaphragm which is connected by means of awire 22 to a stylus carrier 23, the stylus being shown at 24. Projectingdownwardly from'the' periphery of the sound box 21 is a U-shaped member25 through which is inserted a pin 26 connected with the stylus carrier23.

Adjacent the reduced rear end of the sound box is located a post 26. Aresilient insulating bar 27 is connected with said post and has itsouter free end inserted within a slot in the rear end of the styluscarrier 23. A coil spring 28 has one end secured to the sound box 21 andits other end secured to the bottom of the post 26*. The spring 28, post26 and resilient insulating bar 27 permits oscillation of the stylusholder 23 in a horizontal plane and also oscillation in a verticalplane.

A switching device is secured to the base member 11 by a foot on abracket or a standard 29. The frame or bracket 29 is formed of softductible iron adapted to be bent and formed to provide a suitable meansof sup port for an electro-magnet 30 which is mounted horizontally andwith its aXis parallel to the vertical standard of the frame, one end ofthe magnet being secured to an inturned arm, as shown at 31 in Figures 4and 5. From the upper part of the bracket 29 that supports theelectromagnet 30 and at right angles to the axis of said magnet aremounted three contact springs 32, 33 and 34 which are insulated from theframe and from each other by the members 35. On the opposite end of theframe 29 is provided an arm 36 which is bent inwardly to form a shoulder37 to which is pivotally mounted at 38 an armature 39. The arm 36 isbent inwardly, as shown at 40 and bent back upon itself several times toprovide a guide 41 for an insulated plunger 42 which has shoulders 43adapted to engage the upper end of the guide 41 and limit the downwardmovement of said plunger. The guide is provided with a slot as shown at44 alining with a notch 45 in the plunger 42 adapted to receive an arm46 at the opposite end of the armature 39 for locking the plunger 42against movement which is maintained normally in depressed position bythe spring contact member 47.

A second spring contact 48 is located above the spring contact 47 andnormally engaged with it when the plunger 42 is in its most.

elevated position and locked in such position by the engagement of thearm 46 with the notch 45 in said plunger. The outer fixed ends of thespring contacts 47 and 48 are rigidly secured to the horizontal arm 50of the bracket 29 and insulated therefrom and with the spring contactsinsulated from each other by members 51. The fixed ends of the springcontact members 47 and 48 are respectively projected beyond theinsulating menr bers 51 as shown at 52 and 53 and adapted to beconnected with the circuits of the motor.

The core 54 of the magnet 39 is provided with a recess 55 in which isinserted a coil spring 56. The outer free end of the spring is adaptedto engage the free end of the armature 39 and maintain said armatureoutwardly from the core 54 so that the arm 46 will be maintained withinthe slot 44 of the guide 41.

An arm 57 is rigidly connected with the rock shaft 9 and is adapted toengage the conical end 58 of the plunger 42 when said arm is moved inengagement with the bottom of'the plunger whereby the plunger isforcedupwardly and engages the spring contact 47. When the shaft 9 is rockedin the opposite direction the arm 57 is likewise moved in an oppositedirection and engages the spring contact member 34 and moves it intoengagement with an insulating block 60 on the end of the spring contactmember 32 for moving said contact member out of engagement with thecontact member 33.

The motor 8 may be connected with a genorator 61 or as is usual with theordinary house current and where the generator is shown it may beindicative of the current supplied to the driving motor.

Contact 47 is connected by means of wire 62 with the motor 8; contact 48is electrically connected with the spring contact 33; spring contact 32is connected to one pole of the generator or to one wire of the housecurrent, while the other pole or wire of the house current is connectedby means of a wire 63 to the motor 8 and to contact 34. Pin 26 isconnected by means of a wire 64 to the windings 65 of the magnet 30. Theother end of the coil of the magnet is connected to the wire 62 whichconnects motion 8 with contact 47 The U-shaped member 25 is electricallyconnected to the spring contact member 57.

The operation of our device is as follows:

Assuming that it is desired to replace the record 3 (Figure 1) withanother, compress the handle 14 in the direction indicated by the arrowwhereby the cam 12 will cause the rock shaft 9 to be raised togetherwith the born 15, causing disengagement of the rack 13 from the worm 17,raising of tone arm 20 and stylus 24 from the record and also elevatingthe operating arm 57 on shaft 9 to a point which is level with the lowerend of guide 41. The handle 14 is then rotated in a clockwise direction.This action will cause shaft 9 to rotate in the same direction and willcarry the reproducer 23, the rack 18 and the operating arm 57 to extremeouter position. Just before the arm reaches the 8X treme outer positionit will engage with the depending arm 46 of the armature 39 and move thesame outwardly from its engagement with the notch 44 in the guide 41 andthe notch 45 in the plunger 42 and the pressure of the spring contactmember 47 on the plunger will force the plunger downwardly and thusseparate the spring contacts 47 and 4S and opening the circuit of themotor 8.

To start the phonograph after replacing the record, revolve the handleon the cam in a counter-clockwise direction until the stylus 24 isdirectly over the outer music groove on the face of the record. At thistime the shaft 9 has been rotated in a clockwise manner until theoperating arm 57 has passed beneath the guide 41 engaging the conicalend 58 of the plunger 42 and thus moving the plunger upwardly andforcing contact 47 into engagement with contact 48 and the latch arm 46will automatically seat within the notches 44 and 45 and lock theplunger against downward movement. The contact springs 32 and 33 arenormally closed and as the contact springs 47 and 48 are in series withthe contact springs 32 and 33, it will be seen from Figure 7 that assoon as the contact springs 47 and 48 are closed by raising the plunger42 the motor 8 will be started. This action in turn causes the turntable2 and the record to rotate and the stylus 24 is now lowered into themusic groove on the face of the record and rack 18 in engagement withthe worm 17 by moving the handle 14 to its normal upright position.

As the record is played the stylus holder 23 is carried across the faceof the record by the stylus 24 and the music groove in the face of therecord. The upper part of the reproducer 21 is carried across the faceof the record at the same time and at the same speed as the stylusholder by the worm 17 and the rack 18. Pin 26 is approximately centeredin the U-shaped member 25 as long as the stylus remains seated in themusic groove in the face of the record. As the record is played theoperating arm 57 is moved back towards the contact spring 34. Theoperating arm comes in contact with said spring contact at a short timebefore the stylus leaves the music groove at the end of the reproductionof the record.

It will be seen from the wiring diagram (Figure 7) that one lead fromthe generator is connected to the iron frame of the phonograph so thatthe pin 26 is charged at all times when contacts 47 and 48 are closed.Therefore when the operating arm 57 makes contact with the contactsprings 34 and when the contacts 32 and 33 and 47 and 48 are closed,which is the normal position of contacts during reproduction of therecord, the U-shaped member 25 is also charged by the other lead fromthe generator orthe house current. When the stylus 24 leaves the musicgroove at the end of the record, the pin 26 is forced over into contactwith a side of the U-shaped member 25 by the action of the spiral spring28. This contact of the pin and the member 25 completes the electricalcircuit through the magnet 30. The electric current flowing through theelectromagnet 30 sets up a magnetic flux in the core of the magnet andthis flux sets up a force which overcomes the counter force of the coilspring 56 acting upon the armature 39 and draws the end of the armature,in engagement with the core 54. When the armature is oscillated the arm46 is moved outwardly from the guide 41 and is released from the notches44 and 45 whereby the plunger 42 is supported in elevated position. Thisreleases the plunger 42 and causes the contacts 47 and 48 to separateand breaks the electrical circuit to the motor which consequently stopsthe turntable 2.

If, however, for any reason the plunger 42 should fail to drop or thecontacts 47 and 48 fail to open the motor 8 would continue to run. Thiswould cause the operating arm 57 to force the contact spring '34 backuntil said spring contact engages the insulating block 60 on the springcontact 32. Continued rearward movement of the spring contact 34 willcause the spring contact 32 to be removed from contact 33 and break theelectrical circuit through the motor and the electromagnet 30 thuscausing the phonograph to stop. This latter action of the arm 57 inbreaking the' circuit through the contacts 32 and 33 acts as a safetydevice for the motor.

Another record may now be played by repeating the above describedoperation.

Substantially all the features of this invention are applicable to alltypes of phonographs except that feature wherein the motor circuit isautomatically opened at the instant the stylus reaches the end of musicgroove at the end of the reproduction of the record and it must he bornein mind that the automatic feature is especially adapted on an Edisondiamond disc phonograph.

VVhat we claim is:

1. In an electrically driven phonograph having a stylus carrier, amotor, a circuit connected with said motor, a switch for closing saidcircuit, the combination of means for retaining said switch closed,electrical means for causing release of the retaming means to causeopening of the switch, and an open circuit connected with the electricalmeans, a switch in the last mentioned circuit actuated by apredetermined position of the stylus carrier for closing said circuitwhereby the electrical means is operated to release the retaining meansand break the circuit to the motor.

2. An electrically driven phonograph having a stylus carrier, a motor, acircuit con nected to the motor, a switch-for closing said circuit, thecombination of a plunger for retaining said switch closed, andelectrical means for causing release of the plunger to cause opening ofthe switch, an open circuit connected with the electrical means, aswitch in the last mentioned circuit actuated by the predeterminedposition of the stylus carrier for closing said circuit whereby theelectrical means is operated to release the plunger and actuate thefirst mentioned switch to break the circuit to the motor.

3. An electrically driven phonograph having a stylus carrier, a motor,the combination of a circuit connected with said motor, a switch forclosing said circuit, a spring pressed plunger for maintaining theswitch closed, a latch adapted to engage the plunger "for preventingrelease of said plunger, and electrical means for causing actuation ofthe latch to release the plunger and cause opening of the switch, anopen circuit connected with the electrical means, a switch in the lastmentioned circuit actuated by the predetermined position of the styluscarrier for closing said circuit whereby the electrical means isoperated to actuate the latch to release the plunger and break thecircuit to the motor.

4. An electrically driven phonograph having a stylus carrier, a motor, acircuit connected with said motor, a switch for closing said circuit,means for retaining said switch closed, and electrical means for causingrelease of the retaining means to cause opening of the switch, an opencircuit connected with the electrical means, a switch actuated by anabnormal movement of the stylus carrier for closing said last mentionedcircuit whereby the electrical means is operated to release theretaining means and break the circuit to the motor, and means forcausing the abnormal movement of the stylus carrier.

5. In an electrically driven phonograph, a motor, a circuit connectedwith said motor, a switch for closing said circuit, means for retainingsaid switch closed, and electrical means for causing release of theretaining means to cause opening of the switch, an open circuitconnected with the electrical means, a sound box having a diaphragm, astylus carrier connected to the diaphragm, said stylus carrier havingindependent movement of the sound box, a contact car ried by the soundbox, a contact on the stylus carrier, the two contacts forming a switchand connected with the open circuit, means for causing the contacts tobecome engaged to close the circuit whereby the electrical means isoperated to release the retaining means and break the circuit to themotor.

6. In an electrically driven phonograph, a motor, a circuit connectedwith said motor, a switch for closing said circuit, means for retainingsaid switch closed, and electrical means for causing release of theretaining means tocause opening of the switch, an open circuit connectedwith the electrical means, a sound box having a diaphragm and carrying acontact, a stylus carrier connected with the diaphragm and provided witha contact engageable with the contact on the sound box for closing thecircuit to the electrical means, and means for connecting the sound boxwith the stylus carrier and adapted to actuate the stylus carrierrelative to the sound box for causing the contacts to engage.

7.4 In an electrically driven phonograph, a

motor, a circuit connected with said motor, a switch for closing saidcircuit, means for retaining said switch closed, and electrical meansfor causing release of the retaining means to cause opening of theswitch, an open circuit connected with the electrical means, a sound boxhaving a diaphragm, a stylus carrier connected to the diaphragm, saidstylus carrier having independent movement of the sound box, a contactcarried by the sound box, a contact on the stylus carrier, the twocontacts forming a switch and connected with the open circuit wherebywhen the contacts are engaged the circuit will be closed whereby theelectrical means is operated to release the retaining means and breakthe circuit to the motor, a resilient means connecting the sound box andthe stylus carrier and for moving the stylus carrier relative to thesound box in a horizontal plane whereby the contacts are caused toengage and close the circuit to the electrical means.

8. In an electrically driven phonograph, a motor, a circuit connectedwith said motor, a switch for closing said circuit, means for retainingsaid switch closed, and electrical means for causing release of theretaining means to cause opening of the switch, an arm, means connectingthe arm with the motor for causing revolution of said arm, a switch inthe circuit to the motor, said arm being moved to a predeterminedposition by the motor for actuating the switch to open the circuit, anopen circuit connected with the electrical means, a switch actuated by apredetermined position of the stylus carrier for closing the lastmentioned circuit whereby the electrical means is operated to releasethe retaining means and break the circuit to the motor.

9. In an electrically driven phonograph, a motor, a circuit connectedwith said motor, a switch for closing said circuit, means for retainingsaid switch closed, and electrical means for causing release of theretaining means to cause opening of the switch, an open circuitconnected with electrical means, a switch in the last mentioned circuitactuated by a predetermined position of the stylus carrier for closingsaid circuit whereby the electrical means is operated to release andbreak the circuit to the motor, a third switch in the motor circuit, andmeans operated by the motor for causing actuation of the switch to breakthe circuit to the motor.

10. In an electrically driven phonograph, a motor, a circuit connectedwith said motor, a switch for closing said circuit, means for retainingsaid switch closed, and electrical means for causing release of theretaining means to cause opening of the switch, an open circuitconnected with the electrical means, a switch actuated by predeterminedposition of the stylus carrier for closing the last mentioned circuitwhereby the electrical means is operated to release the retaining meansand break the circuit to the motor, an arm adapted to be revolved, meansconnecting the arm with the motor for causing revolution of said arm, athird switch in circuit to the motor, said arm being moved to apredetermined position by the motor for causing actuation of the switchto open the circuit, and a horn adapted to be synchronized for movementwith the oscillation of the arm.

11. In an electrically driven phonograph, a motor, a circuit connectedwith said motor, a switch for closing said circuit, a plunger forretaining said switch closed formed of insulating material, an armatureadapted to engage the plunger and maintain the plunger in position toretain the switch closed, a solenoid adapted to operate the armature forreleasing the plunger, an open circuit connected with the solenoid, aswltch in the last mentioned circuit actuated by a predeterminedposition of the stylus carrier for closing said circuit whereby thesolenoid is energized to operate the armature, and electrical meansoperated by the motor for breaking the motor circuit.

THOMAS EUGENE NIBLOCK. GUY OSCAR MILLER.

